Tuesday, 24 September 2013

A New Sister?

This is Van Loo's "A Break During the Hunt" portrays Louis XV wearing a blue coat with golden decorations in deep conversation with a young lady wearing an orange and white gown. This young lady happens to be Pauline Nesle, one of the Nesle sister with whom the King had affairs with four of them. Behind them are two ladies both in golden orange coats who are both watching the couple intensely. They are none other than Pauline's sisters Diana and Louise who had also shared the King's bed at one point or another - there is a scandal in the air! The last sister is not featured in this portrait but Van Loo clearly shows what the painting is really about.